Breakaway overhead car wash apparatus

ABSTRACT

Breakaway overhead car wash apparatus including a primary arm pivotally mounted on one end and having its free end projecting transversely over the path of a car to be washed with a secondary arm pivotally mounted therefrom and normally projecting rearwardly along such car path to carry a downwardly projecting rotary brush from the free end thereof for rotation about a vertical axis. The brush is suspended from the free end of such secondary arm by means of a breakaway brush carrier having a horizontal pivot axis and being operative in response to a predetermined amount of force being applied to such brush by a car moving forwardly along such path to release such carrier for pivoting of the brush about the horizontal axis. Consequently, when a car to be washed engages such brush, the secondary arm will be collapsed on the primary arm as the front of the car is washed and if such brush should become hung up on the front of such car thus preventing further free travel thereon and resulting in the predetermined force being applied to the brush, such brush will break away to pivot about the horizontal axis thus preventing damage to the washing apparatus or car.

United States Patent [191 Saunders 1 BREAKAWAY OVERHEAD CAR WASH APPARATUS [75] Inventor: Charles E. Saunders, New Canaan,

Conn.

[73] Assignee: The Allen Group, Inc., Melville, NJ. [22] Filed: Nov. 8, 1972 [21] Appl. No.: 304,819

Primary Examiner-Edward L. Roberts Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Fulwider Patton Rieber Lee & Utecht [111 3,818,531 [4 1 June 25, 1974 [5 7] ABSTRACT Breakaway overhead car wash apparatus including a primary arm pivotally mounted on one end and having its free end projecting transversely over the path of a car to be washed with a secondary arm pivotally mounted therefrom and normally projecting rearwardly along such car path to carry a downwardly projecting rotary brush from the free end thereof for rotation about a vertical axis. The brush is suspended from the free end of such secondary arm by means of a breakaway brush carrier having a horizontal pivot axis and being operative in response to a predetermined amount of force being applied to such brush by a car moving forwardly along such path to release such carrier for pivoting of the brush about the horizontal axis. Consequently, when a car to be washed engages such brush, the secondary arm will be collapsed on the primary arm as the front of the car is washed and if such brush should become hung up on the front of such car thus preventing further free travel thereon and resulting in the predetermined force being applied to the brush, such brush will break away to pivot about the horizontal axis thus preventing damage to the washing apparatus or car.

12 Claims, 13 Drawing Figures BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The breakaway overhead car wash apparatus of the present invention relates to a washing device for automatically washing a car as it moves along a predetermined path.

2. Description of the Prior Art Numerous styles of car wash devices have been proposed which include articulated overhead arms and certain high speed car wash devices have been proposed which include a primary overhead arm projecting transversely of the car path and carrying a secondary arm pivotally from the free end thereof for projection rearwardly along the car path to carry a rotary brush from the free end thereof. However, such car wash device suffers the shortcoming that the brush on occasion wil hang up on the front end of a car being washed thus preventing further travel across the front of the car and blocking such brush from clearing the front of the car thus resulting in application of destructive forces to the device as the car continues forward movement against the entrapped brush. Also, in many recent car wash installations the driver remains in the car during washing of the car and, on occasion, such drivers, either inadvertently or intentionally, accelerate the car moving it rapidly forwardly causing damage to the washing brush.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The breakaway overhead car wash apparatus of the present invention is characterized by articulated overhead primary and secondary arms which are pivotally connected together and including control means holding the primary arm normally in a position projecting transversely to the path of a car to be washed and the secondary arm projecting rearwardly along such car path. Breakaway carrier means carries a rotary brush from the free extremity of the secondary arm and is operative in response to application of a predetermined force to the lower extremity of the brush to release such brush for pivoting about a horizontal axis thus permitting the car to continue forward movement without damage to the washing apparatus.

The objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from a consideration of the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a breakaway overhead car wash apparatus embodying the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a right hand side view, in enlarged scale, and partially broken away. of the car wash apparatus shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a partial front view, in enlarged scale, of the car wash apparatus shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a partial front view, in enlarged scale, similar to FIG. 3 and showing the breakaway carrier in its released position;

FIG. 5 is a horizontal sectional view, in enlarged scale, taken along the line 55 of FIG. 3;

FIGS. 6-11 are diagramatic top views of the breakaway overhead car wash apparatus shown in FIG. 1 and depicting sequential operation thereof as a car travels therepast;

FIG. 12 is a left hand side view, in reduced scale, of the car wash apparatus shown in FIG. 1 and depicting operation thereof during washing of a car; and

FIG. 13 is a left hand side view, in reduced scale, similar to FIG. 12 but showing the breakaway brush carrier in its released position.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring to FIG. 1, the breakaway overhead car wash apparatus of the present invention includes, generally, articulated primary and secondary arms 21 and 23 having a control system 25 connected therewith for normally maintaining the primary arm 21 projecting transversely of the path 27 (FIG. 6) of a car 29 to be washed, the secondary arm being normally maintained projecting rearwardly along such path. Suspended from the free end of the secondary arm 23 by means of a breakaway brush carrier, generally designated 31, is a downwardly extending rotary brush 33, such carrier being responsive to a predetermined forward force on such brush to release and permit forward surging of the lower extremity of such brush about a horizontal suspension shaft 34 (FIG. 2). The brush 33 is rotated counterclockwise as viewed in FIG. 6 so contact therewith by the front of the car 29 will normally cause such brush 'to react to the friction between such car and brush to be drawn to the left as the car moves forwardly thereby to thus wash the left half of the front of such car. However, on many occasions the brush 33 is encountered by abnormally high forces which may result from the car traveling forwardly substantially faster than its normal speed or from the brush hanging up during travel across the front of the car. The breakaway carrier 31 is operative in response to abnormal forward forces being applied to the brush 33 to release such brush for rotation about the horizontal axis defined by the suspension shaft 34 (FIG. 2) to enable the brush 33 to clear such car and the car to continue forward travel without damage to the washing apparatus or the car itself.

The primary arrn 21 is carried from a vertical post 37 by means of a pivot shaft 39 and has one end of the secondary arm 23 pivotally connected to the free end thereof by means of a pivot pin 41. Referring to FIG. 2, the breakaway brush carrier 31 is mounted from the free end of the secondary arm 23 and includes a rearwardly facing pressure plate 45 having an upwardly projecting support flange 47 mounted from the top side thereof and formed with a transverse boss 49 which has a bushing 51 received therein, the suspension shaft 34 being joumaled through such bushing. A breakaway suspension plate 55 is mounted on its upper extremity therefrom. A hydraulic motor 61 is mounted from the breakaway pad 55 and has a drive shaft 63 projecting downwardly therefrom to project through the mounting shaft 59 to be coupled with the brush 33 for rotation thereof.

Referring to FIGS. 2, 4 and 5,'mounted on the lower extremity of the pressure plate 45 is a horizontal latch plate 71 which is bent at one end. thereof to flare outwardly to fonn a lead-in section 73 (FIG. 5). Formed in spaced apart relationship along such latch plate 71 are a pair of frustrum shaped keeper receiving apertures 75.

Still referring to FIGS. 2 and 5, mounted from the lower extremity of the suspension plate 55 for disposition in confronting relationship with the respective apertures 75 when the brush 33 is in its vertical position are a pair of plunger assemblies, generally designated 79, and including exteriorly threaded tubular housings 81 which are screwed on one extremity into threaded bores 83 formed in the lower extremity of such suspension plate. One end of the interior passage of the tube 81 is internally threaded at 83 for receipt of a stop plug 85 and the opposite end of such passage is formed with a reduced-in-diameter end portion 86 defining a rearwardly facing annular shoulder 87. A cylindrical keeper 89 is received in the reduced-in-diameter passage portion 86 and is formed on its rear extremity with an enlarged-in-diameter collar 91 normally abutting the shoulder 87. The free extremity of the keeper 89 is formed with a hemispherical tip 91 normally received in the large end of aperture 75 and having a diameter slightly larger than the diameter of the large end of such aperture to abut the walls thereof and hold the brush 33 in position. A coil compression spring 93 is sandwiched between the stop plug 85 and keeper 89 to maintain such keeper biased outwardly into engagement with the respective aperture 75. Carried from the bottom end of the breakaway suspension plate 55 is a retainer flange 94 which projects inwardly and turns upwardly to extend behind the stationary plate 45 when the brush 33 is in its vertical position.

Referring to FIG. 1, the control system 25 is substantially the same as that disclosed in US. Pat. Ser. No. 218,997, filed Jan. 19, 1972, now US. Pat. No. 3,73 l ,33 l, and includes a pair of primary arm cylinders 95 and 97 connected together by means of a common piston rod 99, the piston 95 being normally pressurized at its blind end by means of an air conduit 101 and the piston 97 being normally pressurized at its rod end by means of an air conduit 102 to thus maintain the piston assembly normally extended to an intermediate position retaining the primary arm 21 projecting transversely of the car path 27 as shown in FIG. 6. An air conduit 103 is connected to the blind end of the cylinder 97 to selectively pressurize such blind end to cooperate with the cylinder 95 in advancing the primary arm 21 to its full forward position shown in FIG. 11. Connected between the primary and secondary arms 21 and 23 is a secondary arm control piston 107 which is normally biased to its extended position shown in FIGS. 1 and 11.

In operation, the breakaway overhead car washing apparatus of the present invention is normally used in what is referred to as a tunnel-type car wash system wherein the cars 29 to be washed are hooked to a conveyor to be conveyed past stationary car washing devices. The washing device shown in FIG. 1 is intended for washing the left side of the front and rear of the car 29, as well as the entire left side thereof, and an opposite hand device will be provided for washing the right hand side of such car. As the car 29 moves progressively along the car wash path 27, water will be sprayed thereon and such car will engage the brush 33 as shown in FIG. 6 thus causing the free end of the primary arm 21 to be carried slightly forward to trigger the control system 25 to release pressure from the dead end of the secondary control cylinder 107 thus freeing the free end of the secondary arm 23 to collapse on the primary arm to the position shown in FIG. 7.

However, if the brush 33 hangs up on the front extremity of the car 29 thus preventing such brush from clearing the left front fender, the force applied thereto will be effective to urge rotation of the suspension plate 55 (FIG. 2) about the suspension shaft 34 with sufficient force to cause the consequent force on the rounded ends 91 (FIG. 5) of the keepers 89 applied by the walls of the large ends of the respective apertures to retract such keepers 89 against the bias of the respective springs 93 to thus free the lower extremity of the suspension plate 55 (FIG. 2) to enable the brush 33 to be pivoted on the suspension shaft 32 thus enabling the lower extremity of such brush to move forwardly with the forwardly moving car 29 thus preventing damage to the washing apparatus. The brush 33 will then be free to continue its travel around the periphery of the car and after the troublesome car has cleared the brush 33, the breakaway carrier 31 may be reset by pivoting the brush 33 to its vertical position thus realigning the respective keepers 89 with the respective apertures 75 to engage such keepers therewith to again lock the brush 33 in its vertical operative position.

It will be appreciated that under normal operating conditions the control system 25 will maintain the brush 33 urged against the car 29 with sufficient force to effect thorough scrubbing thereof, as for example with 15 pounds of force, so the breakaway carrier 31 must resist breakaway when forces of at least that magnitude are applied thereto. The plungers 79 may be screwed inwardly or outwardly in the bores 83 to adjust the force required to break the carrier 31 away and normally such plungers are adjusted to urge the keepers 89 into engagement with the respective apertures 75 with sufficient force to resist breakaway until 100 pounds of force are applied to the brush 33 in a direction along the car path 27.

After the carrier 31 has been reset, subsequent cars 29 may be moved therepast for washing thereof and upon engagement of the front of the car 29 with the brush 33, the brush will move transversely across the front of the car from the position shown in FIG. 6 to the position shown in FIG. 7 and, assuming such brush clears the left front corner of the car, the rotational friction of such brush against the left hand side of the car will draw such brush rearwardly along the side of the car thus carrying the free extremity of the primary arm 31 rearwardly to the position shown in FIG. 8 and as such brush clears the rear corner of the car 29, the secondary arm 23 will commence unfolding as shown in FIG. 9 thus actuating a control valve to pressurize the blind ends of the primary arm control pistons and 97 to urge the free end of such primary arm forwardly as the secondary arm unfolds toward the position shown in FIG. 10 thus carrying the brush 33 forwardly with the rear of the car and moving it transversely across the rear of such car to wash the left hand side of the rear of such car. Forward travel of the free extremity of the primary arm 21 will continue as the secondary arm 23 unfolds to ultimately reach the full forward position shown in FIG. 11 to effect washing of approximately 60 to 70 percent of the rear of the car 29. When the primary arm 21 reaches its full forward position, the pressure from the blind end of the cylinder 97 will be released and pressure applied to the rod end thereof to retract the intermediate waiting position shown in H6. 6 to ready such device for washing of a subsequent car.

The car wash apparatus of the present invention has proven to be capable of washing cars at rates of well over 100 cars per hour while providing the safety of assuring that if the brush 33 hangs up on a car, the carrier 31 will break away before any damage can be done.

From the foregoing, it will be apparent that the car wash apparatus of the present invention provides means for rapidly washing automobiles as they are moved at a relatively rapid pace therepast while providing a breakaway capability for the brush to enable such brush to be released if it hangs up on the front of the car to thus prevent damage to the apparatus or to the car and permitting the car to pass thereby as the brush is moved about such car in its released position. The breakaway carrier may then be rapidly and conveniently reset for continued washing of subsequent cars moved along the automobile path.

I claim:

ll. Breakaway overhead car wash apparatus for washing a car as it travels along a predetermined path and including:

a primary overhead arm pivotally mounted at one end adjacent said path and normally projecting generally transversely of said path;

a secondary overhead arm pivotally carried on one end from said primary arm and normally projecting along said path;

vertically extending rotary brush means disposed at the free end of said secondary arm and extending downwardly to the level of said car path; and

breakaway brush carrier means mounted on the free end of said secondary arm and including stationary and breakaway sections connected together by horizontally extending pivot means, said stationary section being mounted on said secondary arm and including a latch element spaced from said pivot means, said breakaway section carrying said brush and including latch means engageable with said latch element and operative upon application of a predetermined force urging the lower extremity of said brush forwardly along said path to release and disengage from said latch element to free said brush for pivoting of the lower extremity thereof freely about said pivot means whereby any time during the washing of said car, the force of said car on said brush exceeds said predetermined force said latch means will release to free said breakaway section to allow said brush to pivot freely away under the influence of said car and after said car is moved free of said apparatus, said breakaway section may be pivoted back into position aligning said latch means with said latch element to latch said brush in position for the next car.

2. Breakaway overhead car wash apparatus as set forth in ciaim 1 wherein:

said latch element includes abutment means and is mounted on said stationary section; and

said latch means includes a spring loaded plunger engageable with said abutment means and operative in response to said predetennined force to disengage said abutment means.

3. Breakaway overhead car wash apparatus as set forth in ciaim 1 wherein:

said latch means includes a latch plate having abutment means formed therein and a sloped ramp leading to said abutment means; said latch means includes retractable spring loaded plunger means having one end thereof engageable with said ramp to retract said plunger means as said brush is brought into its vertical position to then engage said abutment means to latch said brush in its vertical position. i. Breakaway overhead car wash apparatus as set forth in claim 11 wherein:

said latch element includes a conical bore that contracts inwardly; and said latch means includes plunger means formed on one end with a rounded head for engagement with the expanded end of said conical pore. 5. Breakaway overhead car wash apparatus as set forth in claim ll wherein:

said breakaway brush carrier means includes a retainer flange carried from said breakaway section and engageable with said stationary section when said brush is in its vertical position. 6. Breakaway overhead car wash apparatus as set forth in claim ll wherein:

said stationary section is in the form of a suspension plate carried from the free extremity of said secondary arm and projecting transversely to the axis of said secondary arm, said breakaway section includes break plate means disposed adjacent said suspension plate means and said pivot means includes a pivot shaft connected with said breakaway plate and bearing means in said suspension plate and receiving said pivot shaft. 7. Breakaway overhead car wash apparatus as set forth in claim ll that includes:

control means connected with said primary and secondary arms and responsive to contact of a car moving forwardly along said car path with said brush to fold said secondary arm on said primary arm to move said brush to one side of said car and said brush clearing a front corner of said car to move said brush rearwardly along said one side to the rear corner of said car while drawing said primary arm rearwardly and, further, responsive to said brush clearing said rear corner to initiate forward movement of said primary arm and unfolding of said secondary arm to draw said brush inwardly along the rear of said car. h. Breakaway overhead car wash apparatus as set forth in claim 1 wherein:

said latch means includes a latch plate formed with a frustrum shaped keeper apparatus and plunger means including a bolt aligned with said aperture when said brush is in its vertical position and formed on its projecting end with a rounded tip having a diameter larger than the diameter of the large end of said aperture, said plunger means including biasing means urging said keeper into engagement with said aperture. 9. Breakaway overhead car wash apparatus as set forth in claim ll wherein:

said breakaway carrier means includes a stationary plate carried from the free end of said secondary arm and including said pivot means in the upper extremity thereof and said latch means includes abutment means in the lower extremity of said stationary plate and plunger means aligned carried from said pivot means and normally urged into engagement with said abutment means when said brush is I in its vertical position.

10. Breakaway car wash apparatus for washing a car as it moves along a car path relative to said apparatus and comprising:

overhead support structure;

vertically extending rotary brush means normally disposed in said path;

vertically projecting lever arm means carrying said brush from the lower extremity thereof; breakaway brush carrier means mounting the upper extremity of said lever arm means to said support structure and including stationary and breakaway sections, horizontally, extending pivot means connecting said stationary and breakaway sections together, said carrier means further including keeper means connected between said stationary and breakaway sections for normally holding said breakaway section in position with said brush disposed in its normal position in said path and being operative upon application of a predetermined force to the lower extremity of said brush in a direction along said path to release said breakaway section to free said brush to pivot about said pivot means and relative to said support structure. 11. Breakaway car wash apparatus as set forth in claim 10 wherein:

said stationary section includes abutment means and said keeper means includes a plunger engaged with said abutment means when said brush is in its normal position and bias means urging said plunger means into engagement with said abutment means with sufficient force to normally resist release and responsive to said predetermined force to cause said keeper to retract and release said breakaway section. 12. Breakaway car wash apparatus as set forth in claim 11 wherein:

said abutment means is tapered. 

1. Breakaway overhead caR wash apparatus for washing a car as it travels along a predetermined path and including: a primary overhead arm pivotally mounted at one end adjacent said path and normally projecting generally transversely of said path; a secondary overhead arm pivotally carried on one end from said primary arm and normally projecting along said path; vertically extending rotary brush means disposed at the free end of said secondary arm and extending downwardly to the level of said car path; and breakaway brush carrier means mounted on the free end of said secondary arm and including stationary and breakaway sections connected together by horizontally extending pivot means, said stationary section being mounted on said secondary arm and including a latch element spaced from said pivot means, said breakaway section carrying said brush and including latch means engageable with said latch element and operative upon application of a predetermined force urging the lower extremity of said brush forwardly along said path to release and disengage from said latch element to free said brush for pivoting of the lower extremity thereof freely about said pivot means whereby any time during the washing of said car, the force of said car on said brush exceeds said predetermined force said latch means will release to free said breakaway section to allow said brush to pivot freely away under the influence of said car and after said car is moved free of said apparatus, said breakaway section may be pivoted back into position aligning said latch means with said latch element to latch said brush in position for the next car.
 2. Breakaway overhead car wash apparatus as set forth in claim 1 wherein: said latch element includes abutment means and is mounted on said stationary section; and said latch means includes a spring loaded plunger engageable with said abutment means and operative in response to said predetermined force to disengage said abutment means.
 3. Breakaway overhead car wash apparatus as set forth in claim 1 wherein: said latch means includes a latch plate having abutment means formed therein and a sloped ramp leading to said abutment means; said latch means includes retractable spring loaded plunger means having one end thereof engageable with said ramp to retract said plunger means as said brush is brought into its vertical position to then engage said abutment means to latch said brush in its vertical position.
 4. Breakaway overhead car wash apparatus as set forth in claim 1 wherein: said latch element includes a conical bore that contracts inwardly; and said latch means includes plunger means formed on one end with a rounded head for engagement with the expanded end of said conical pore.
 5. Breakaway overhead car wash apparatus as set forth in claim 1 wherein: said breakaway brush carrier means includes a retainer flange carried from said breakaway section and engageable with said stationary section when said brush is in its vertical position.
 6. Breakaway overhead car wash apparatus as set forth in claim 1 wherein: said stationary section is in the form of a suspension plate carried from the free extremity of said secondary arm and projecting transversely to the axis of said secondary arm, said breakaway section includes break plate means disposed adjacent said suspension plate means and said pivot means includes a pivot shaft connected with said breakaway plate and bearing means in said suspension plate and receiving said pivot shaft.
 7. Breakaway overhead car wash apparatus as set forth in claim 1 that includes: control means connected with said primary and secondary arms and responsive to contact of a car moving forwardly along said car path with said brush to fold said secondary arm on said primary arm to move said brush to one side of said car and said brush clearing a front corner of said car to move said brush rearwardly along said one side to the rear corner of said car while drawing said primary arm rEarwardly and, further, responsive to said brush clearing said rear corner to initiate forward movement of said primary arm and unfolding of said secondary arm to draw said brush inwardly along the rear of said car.
 8. Breakaway overhead car wash apparatus as set forth in claim 1 wherein: said latch means includes a latch plate formed with a frustrum shaped keeper apparatus and plunger means including a bolt aligned with said aperture when said brush is in its vertical position and formed on its projecting end with a rounded tip having a diameter larger than the diameter of the large end of said aperture, said plunger means including biasing means urging said keeper into engagement with said aperture.
 9. Breakaway overhead car wash apparatus as set forth in claim 1 wherein: said breakaway carrier means includes a stationary plate carried from the free end of said secondary arm and including said pivot means in the upper extremity thereof and said latch means includes abutment means in the lower extremity of said stationary plate and plunger means aligned carried from said pivot means and normally urged into engagement with said abutment means when said brush is in its vertical position.
 10. Breakaway car wash apparatus for washing a car as it moves along a car path relative to said apparatus and comprising: overhead support structure; vertically extending rotary brush means normally disposed in said path; vertically projecting lever arm means carrying said brush from the lower extremity thereof; breakaway brush carrier means mounting the upper extremity of said lever arm means to said support structure and including stationary and breakaway sections, horizontally, extending pivot means connecting said stationary and breakaway sections together, said carrier means further including keeper means connected between said stationary and breakaway sections for normally holding said breakaway section in position with said brush disposed in its normal position in said path and being operative upon application of a predetermined force to the lower extremity of said brush in a direction along said path to release said breakaway section to free said brush to pivot about said pivot means and relative to said support structure.
 11. Breakaway car wash apparatus as set forth in claim 10 wherein: said stationary section includes abutment means and said keeper means includes a plunger engaged with said abutment means when said brush is in its normal position and bias means urging said plunger means into engagement with said abutment means with sufficient force to normally resist release and responsive to said predetermined force to cause said keeper to retract and release said breakaway section.
 12. Breakaway car wash apparatus as set forth in claim 11 wherein: said abutment means is tapered. 